It's early yet to start predicting the effectiveness of any NFL team's offense or defense, since we're primarily seeing names on the backs of Raiders jerseys we might never hear of again.
However, if Monday night's preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys is any indication, fans of the silver and black may be able to cheer on a defense that hearkens back to a more glorious era.
The Raiders' defense last season was abysmal, ranking 29th in the league. This year they didn't fare much better with the critics, garnering the 28th spot out of 32 teams. So it doesn't get much worse in terms of grade.
But before anyone panics over visions of another 8-8 season, let's remember that the Raiders had a defense ranked 11th in 2010 that starred some of the same veterans that appear on this year's squad. Additionally, Monday's game, a difficult to watch 3-0 loss, showed some flashes of brilliance from the much maligned Raiders D.
The Raiders managed to hold the Cowboys to 202 total yards, 11 f...

You'll
also
receive Yardbarker's daily Top 10, featuring the best sports stories from around the web.
Customize your newsletter to get articles on your favorite sports and teams. And the best part? It's free!

Company Info

Help

What is Yardbarker?

Yardbarker is the largest network of sports blogs and pro athlete blogs on the web. This site is the hub of the Yardbarker Network, where our editors and algorithms curate the best sports content from our network and beyond.